Gothic: one of the great cast iron bridges of Central Park.

The Interborough Rapid Transit building on 59th Street

an evocation of ancient Rome, and a tribute to modern American enlightenment. "But for its stacks, it might suggest an art gallery, museum or a public library rather than a power house.", enthused J. C. Bayles of the New York Times on October 30, 1904.

Built in 1904, this magnificent neo-classical structure dominates. Above it one can note smoke stacks belching black smoke so typical of the industrial age in which it was born but what the heck for? Our subway system today seems too modern to be reliant on such an antiquated system to generate power for the trains?  Just observe the building from its north side and it would appear that it is positively breathing. Yes, it is alive. A relic of the industrial age surrounded by 21st century glass and steel towers. But it's beauty is undeniable. Just look at its ornate baroque façade. It seems to be saying: I WAS BUILT AT A TIME WHEN THIS COUNTRY WAS AT ITS BEST. WHEN NOTHING ELSE LIKE ME EXISTED. I WAS THE MARVEL OF A BOOMING YOUNG CITY BURSTING AT THE SEAMS.

The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of the original underground New York City Subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated lines and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT was purchased by the City in June 1940. The former IRT lines (the numbered lines in the current subway system) are now the A division or IRT Division of the Subway.

Here's a write up from The New York times in 1904:

The New York Times · October, 1904

New Power Plant of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company

One of the most interesting and instructive power plans in the world is the new one recently constructed by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company of this city for the operation of the Subway trains. From this one station is to be derived the power needed to run some 800 trains on the thirteen miles of three ad four track road now built or in the process of construction. This tremendous plant is situated on Eleventh Avenue and extends from Fifty-eighth Street to Fifty-ninth Street, being about 700 feet in depth measured back from the avenue. The skeleton of the building is of steel, but the other loads which will have to be supported are so great that the side walls have been made entirely self-supporting.

The IRT building in its heyday

The steel work is extremely strong, its heavy sections coming in the class of bridge girders rather than ordinary structural shapes. The floors are made of I-beams, connected by plate girders, and the interstices filled with concrete arches. The concrete is reinforced with expanded metal to give it greater stiffness and tenacity. The floors have been designed to stand safely under the following maximum loads: Two hundred pounds per square foot on all flat parts of the roof; 500 pounds in the engine room, and 300 pounds in the boiler house. In the latter part of the building, in the parts directly in front of the boilers, where the wear will be greatest, heavy cast-iron plates with rough, checkered surfaces are made into the floor. These plates extend across the entire front of the boiler, and are three feet wide.

Most of the columns are built up of plates and channels, the latter being 12 inches deep and the former 18 inches wide. The wall columns are of the "box" type of plate and angle construction.

As the layout of the boiler room, putting all the boilers on one floor required that exceptional care be taken to economize space as far as possible, the novel expedient was adopted of raising the the stacks and building them on steel legs and platforms instead of solidly on the ground, as has heretofore been almost the universal practice. These platforms are about the level of the roof of the building, saving thereby a large amount of space in the boiler room and the economizer room, which is on the floor above. The platforms on which the stacks rest are extremely heavy, being made up of 24-inch I-beams, on which the brickwork is directly placed. The beams are supported by a bracing made up of plate girders eight feet deep. The columns supporting this weight are of box pattern, made up of angles and plates, and are about 10 by 20 inches outside. These columns are stiffened by girders and braces, and are practically separate from the building proper.

 But for its stacks, it might suggest an art museum or public library rather than a power house. The unsightliness to which we are accustomed in buildings of this character usually represents an economy of thousands of dollars secured at a cost of millions in the depreciation of adjacent property and contiguous neighborhoods. -- J.C. BAYLES.












   In its heyday, the building boasted 6 smokestacks! Today, the last remaining smokestack hasn't been used in 16 years and the building has been acquired by Con Edison. There are now efforts by the Parks Dept. to make the building a historical landmark, turning it into a museum.

J. Marion Sims: pioneer in gynecological surgery

1813-1888. Dr. James Marion Sims was a reknowed surgeon whose pioneering work in gynecological surgery saved numerous lives from vesicovaginal fistula, a danngerous injury resulting from childbirth. His work became so celebrated that he attended to European royals.

In 1855 he founded the first hospital for women in America, and one of the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

But his legacy does not come without controversy. It turns out that while perfecting his technique he would experiment on black slave women..WITHOUT ANESTHESIA. Although he saved many of them he later performed the same surgery on white women this time WITH anesthesia. Because of this he is widely regarded as a villain.

This statue of his likeness stands loftily on 5th Avenue and 103rd Street by Central Park. Designed by Ferdinand Von Miller in bronze it captures the loftiness of the period and the confidence screams through his gallant pose.